


Nature, Nurture, Heaven, Home

by TheBlindBandit



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Gem Kindergarten, PearlRose Bomb 2015, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-01
Updated: 2015-09-01
Packaged: 2018-04-18 10:30:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4702730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBlindBandit/pseuds/TheBlindBandit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They kept Amethyst.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nature, Nurture, Heaven, Home

“I hate this place,” Pearl mumbled under her breath, pulling at the airy material of her tunic in an attempt to free it from where it had snagged on the jagged edges of a broken-down injector.

She could hear a hum of vague assent come from Rose, up ahead and inspecting a cliff face, but even the presence she cherished unlike any other did little to ease the crawling discomfort in her gut. They’d already found and bubbled one corrupted Gem during their rounds, true, and it seemed very unfair to blame Garnet for the situation, but she’d been the one to suggest that their presence here was needed and Pearl desperately wanted to pin the blame on _someone_ – Garnet, very conveniently, hadn’t even come with them. The Kindergarten was nothing but a grim, dreary reminder of things none of them could ever undo, as well as the endless, horrifying trials they’d gone through in an attempt to do exactly that.

With a foot anchored against the injector’s base and one final, firm tug, Pearl at long last managed to rip herself free. Her mind was already mostly on fixing the unsightly tear in her clothing, when she let her eyes wander away from the sad state of her hem and take in exactly where it was she was standing. The sudden awareness ran down her spine in a merciless cascade of chills.

_She has to get to Rose._

_She doesn’t know how the battle is going, if their forces are following the sequences she outlined in great detail during last night’s final tactical meeting, or if they’re being crushed and routed and spilled all over like so many figures on the chessboard in Pearl’s mind, run over by the seemingly endless numbers of freshly incubated Gems._

_She has to get to Rose, but she can’t move, and the topaz just_ had _to take out her legs, of all things-_

“Pearl? Are you all right? Did you find something?” Rose’s voice drifted over to her, but it seemed to be coming from much further away than before - surely she couldn’t have moved that quickly? Pearl’s gaze flew wildly over her surroundings, trying to find an anchor to keep herself in the present and focused on the task at hand. The Kindergarten, with its eerie untouched timelessness, kept refusing to let her, pulling her back without mercy, and if she looked down she could see the tracks she’d once dug into the ground herself. She tried to look up and find where Rose was calling to her from, but-

_-all she knows is that Rose is surrounded, and all that plays before her eyes is the brief moment of the impenetrable pink shield flickering out of existence. It was only for a split second, and Rose recovered quickly enough, but what if next time she doesn’t manage to get it to appear in time, what if one of the enemy Gems crowding her gets a lucky shot in, what if-_

_She digs her fingers into the dirt and torn up sparse grass and glittering shards that were still_ someone _not moments ago, and she pulls with all the might her burning determination and need can summon. Her chest scrapes along the ground and she is far, far too slow._

_She stares dully at the sword that fell by her side when the strike sent her toppling down the slope, but before she can even think to move_ _an enemy Gem comes by to finish her off. It’s almost a relief when the axe sinks into her back and she is gone._

_She is out of her gem in record time, the fastest regeneration she’s ever managed - but, well, motivation is an amazing thing, and she would gladly die a thousand times over if it meant Rose Quartz would be spared, untouched-_

“Pearl!”

Warm arms encircled her, and there, _there_ was the anchor she needed. “They’re gone, Pearl, and they’re not coming back,” a whisper came right by her temple, soft but firm, grounding and reassuring in a way that was uniquely Rose. Rose was safe, being enveloped in Rose was safe, and Pearl found her breaths slowing down at last.

Rose remembered this place, too, the extra tightness in her hold on Pearl seemed to say. “Okay?”

Pearl nodded a weak confirmation, and Rose let her go - but not too far. A large hand stayed firmly clasped around her own spindly one, the solid reality of it very welcome, and they continued on down the canyon.

The shakiness hadn’t fully gone from Pearl’s knees when a chilling cross between a growl and a howl sounded from somewhere above her head. Her spear was out in a moment, but Rose’s shield was faster – faster even, it seemed, than the source of the threatening sound, as something large and purple all but bounced off of the bright pink barrier.

It was, as far as Pearl could tell, a corrupted topaz just like the one they’d defeated earlier – a Gem twisted into the form of a shaggy, fiercely clawed predatory thing. Pearl aimed her spear at it with every intention of bringing the entire affair to a quick close. Rose, however, seemed to be hesitating and looking at the monster intently – over the rim of her shield, for which Pearl was immensely grateful. Suddenly, she gasped, and held out a hand to block Pearl’s throw. “Pearl, stop!”

“What?”

“This isn’t a topaz at all. Look closer - it’s an amethyst.”

Pearl flinched at the name, but did as Rose said. She was correct – a cursory look at it was enough to establish the gem was nothing like a topaz, even though it was currently in the familiar form of a corrupted one, snarling and snapping its long jaws but making no move to actually attack. “She’s not corrupted, either,” Rose went on, an understanding dawning on her features. “Just… scared. Dismiss your spear, Pearl.”

“What?” Pearl exclaimed, disbelieving, at the sight of Rose calmly letting her shield vanish and taking a step towards the monster. “Rose, what are you _doing_?”

“Dismiss your weapon, Pearl,” Rose repeated in place of an explanation, voice suddenly taking on a tinge of… awe? “There’s no monster for us to fight here. This- this is something else entirely.”

Pearl wanted to protest, but before she’d even managed to decide how to start, the creature disappeared in a flash of light. It left in its wake a small Gem – far smaller than any amethyst Pearl had ever seen and fought – staring up at Rose with wide, curious eyes. She was the expected purple – in the rare patches where her skin could be seen under her covering of muck, Pearl noted with distaste – and her head was crowned with a shock of unruly pale hair that looked like it was eagerly waiting for a chance to shed everywhere.

Rose was crouching down to be at least close to eye-level with her new acquaintance, and Pearl had to grit her teeth to resist running over to her and bodily pulling her away. “Hello, Amethyst,” Rose spoke with a gentle, friendly smile, slowly offering her hand and chuckling when a tiny purple one came to rest on it. “I can’t even begin to tell you what a pleasure it is to meet you. Would you like to come with us?”

“Rose,” Pearl gaped and stammered out, her horror at the entire situation only mounting along with her understanding of Rose’s intentions. “Rose, I really don’t think-”

Both Rose and the amethyst turned to look at her, and the tiny purple menace chose then to launch itself into the air with a high-pitched squeal. Pearl suddenly found herself with a mouthful of hair and armful and faceful of amethyst, squirming and scrambling all over her, small hands grabbing at everything within reach. “This feral… little… thing… ugh, get it off me!”

“She likes you, Pearl!” Rose managed between bouts of delighted laughter, and made absolutely no move to help as the amethyst triumphantly reached the very top of Pearl’s head.

Pearl plucked her off as soon as she was close to still, and held her at a very long arm’s length. “You can’t possibly be serious about this. A _Kindergarten Gem_ -”

“Why not? What is the problem, Pearl? Has she done something to you?” And oh, Rose could be so very deliberately obtuse when she felt the need to.

“No. Not yet, at least. It simply doesn’t escape me that the last time I came face to face with an amethyst I ended up being _sliced into two with a giant axe_!”

The already darkening mood plummeted so quickly and so dramatically Pearl could almost physically feel it, and she cringed at her own outburst. Rose merely gave her a long look and stepped over to take the amethyst off her hands.

“I never asked any of those things of you – you’re the one who insisted on placing so little value on your own life. But it’s over, Pearl. You won’t have to do that anymore. _Please_ don’t.” She turned her attention back towards the amethyst, and her entire countenance softened. “And don’t… don’t pin the blame on someone who wasn’t even there.”

_We don’t get to pick how and where and why we are made,_ was helpfully supplied by Pearl’s own increasingly remorseful self, but still very much in Rose’s voice. _These are not the things that define us_ , the truths Pearl never quite managed to believe of herself continued to echo, and she found herself wondering if, perhaps, she could manage to believe them of someone else. Pearl tilted her head slightly, and kept her thoughts to herself.

“She deserves a chance,” Rose spoke with firm conviction, and then, more quietly, as if it was a thought she herself was only just starting to entertain, “we all deserve a second chance.”

She sounded tired, more than anything, and that was a feeling they knew all too well, all three – sometimes four – of them, the last sad remnant of an entire army, now tasked with getting a world back into shape. Pearl bowed her head, and waited a moment before stepping forward to brush her fingers against Rose’s arm. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Rose murmured back, moving to envelop her in a hug, Amethyst and all. “It just… it still gets a bit much.”

“Yes, it does,” Pearl hummed agreement into Rose’s shoulder, and didn’t move away when Amethyst started playing with her tunic by tugging on the torn unravelling hem.

They made their way back to the warp pad without ever fully disentangling themselves from each other. Amethyst happily alternated between trying to hide in Rose’s hair and riding on Pearl’s shoulders while blowing drool bubbles, and Pearl, for all that enduring a simmering sense of disgust seemed to be slated to become part of her daily routine, couldn’t help but marvel at the joy the tiny Gem’s boundless energy seemed to contain.

A small thing, created by the very war that had taken so much from all of them, left alone in that dreadful place for who knew how long. Rose was absolutely right, she felt like the living embodiment of a second chance.

Pearl tentatively reached over and ruffled Amethyst’s hair, then basked in two wide, pleased smiles all the way home.


End file.
